


Where Birds Never Chirp

by StargayzerAtty



Series: Chasing Myths [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-23 12:57:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20243257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StargayzerAtty/pseuds/StargayzerAtty
Summary: Medusa is visited by a unique half-blood.





	1. Enter the Garden

**Author's Note:**

> The part of the story is not explicitly sexual, and is mostly build up. However, in the second part of the series, these two will indeed get very sexual.

"Birds don't chirp when they're made of stone."

That was the the quote that some nice, caring soul had thought to graffiti her front wall with. Years ago, when that wall had been untouched by paint and freshly chiseled from the finest marble this side of Olympus, the young man who had helped erect the wall had given her one of her last experiences with flirting before a jealous misunderstanding cost her everything. Even now, she often thought of him, that young, cocky man, so sure that he was invincible, so sure that he had a shot where even Poseidon had failed.

That same man had come back, and now found himself made of the same kind of stone.

That couldn't be why the woman, standing in her just her dress, was bitter though. After all, that man had been in her garden for some... four hundred years, now, was it? Or had it been four hundred years ago when she'd last thought of time eight hundred years ago? Nevertheless, his statue had long since begun to chip, here and there. Even though she protected her all of her victims from erosion, the statute had bits missing from cheeks and ears, the tip of its nose, and anywhere the birds started to peck before she could do what she would always do; Turn them to stone. A clever suitor long ago had caressed this statue's cheek and pecked at her heart like it were the statue that might bare food, but she had joined the men almost as quickly. No amount of clever could cure her curse.

Medusa had not always been a Gorgon, nor had she always been a curse. Still stuck in her rumination, Medusa recalled a time when, at the age of 13, she had seen a man casually pick up a woman's bag and start to stroll away. Then merely a child far from her fate, she'd dashed straight up to him, screaming that stealing wasn't the least bit right! The matching rings on the man and woman's fingers hadn't done a thing to dissuade her from trying to stop people from doing wrong. Practically a hero in waiting, she'd been.

Still, another memory arose; An older sister, drunk on her own self-worth after an apparently handsome, rich, young man had helped the elder sister back into her shoe while the younger Medusa still lay sprawled in the dirt, proclaiming that, "The world smells no better when viewed through rose-tinted glasses, sweetie."

Or, as Medusa had needed that translated, "Get real, idiot. The world's shit and you need to realize when a good opportunity lands at your feet. Or, more likely for you, you at it's."

Was that sister among the statues? She had not been given the curse of Gorgon, and perhaps she had wandered into Medusa's lair hundreds of years ago in search of her younger sibling. Back then, far more than now, Medusa had ignored the faces of the statues that she had collected trying to tell herself that they didn't matter beyond being targets for the pigeon's to aim for. Wasn't this a better purpose for them than being dead and buried?

Now, Medusa stroked the same spot a suitor once had, and remembered a newer memory; A few days earlier, a woman had wandered in.

Medusa, snakes nipping at her ears to annoy her more than to get her attention, had been tending to some of her squash plants. They were fat, and lumpy, and with nothing less than a massive sneer, Medusa conjured an unflattering mental image of the Goddess who had put her in this position. A snake on her head who had long ago stopped tormenting her bit her ear then, not to annoy her but to alert her that she was likely to gain a new art piece in nothing flat. It wasn't a big shop, and all the signs that practically screamed BEWARE THE MONSTER were hard to miss; Some still did, though.

As the young ancient picked her way out from the rows of plants, hoping to to frighten the visitor away before they found themself interned, a voice had caught her off guard.

"Excuse me? I'd, uh, heard your name was Meadow, and I just wanted to say that I think your hair is lovely! And I was wondering if you would, maybe, like to come out and get a cup of coff-" That was as far as she had gotten, but Medusa, more human than snake, had no problem deciphering the meaning. Her newest statue had died trying to ask her out on a date. Mentally wishing an eternity in Hades on a certain goddess, Medusa had puckered her lips in a grimace and set about placing her new ornament trying not to think about whatever the woman's name had been. No matter how interested the woman had been, she'd also been shy and nervous in the moments before she got stoned - What a terrible way to feel forever.

The Gorgon blinked, tearing her hand away from the new statue's flirty, uncertain gaze. "Foolish, that's all I am." Medusa muttered, forcing her focus onto what needed doing that day, whatever day it was; Everything. The squash were fine, the pumpkins were blooming meaning it must have been near what humans called Halloween. The daisy and rose, and the dandelions would stay where they were; And had been for the past however many years. The prettiest flowers never needed to be tended to, yet another reminder of what she herself no longer was.

She tended them well into the night, for what that was worth. Which was exactly squat when she couldn't sell her harvest, no more than she could eat it without throwing it up a few hours later. Still, when the moon shone, Medusa didn't slow; She could see then and she would never sleep again.

A few days after accidentally stroking the cheek of woman, a suitor, turned stone, the goddess of wisdom attempted to mock her further, yet.

This time, Medusa was sitting at the service counter that pretended to make her garden a store. It was covered by a thick layer of dust, and she wasn't doing much more than playing at being a store clerk and reading a book that a vengeful goddess had dickishly dropped in; How to Attract More Women Than Men, A Guide to Lesbian Attraction. Where the goddess had come upon that information… It wasn't too much to keep her from noticing when the young woman walked in.

Her hair was a stark, almost gingery, orange-red. She didn't wear much more than a bright red dress almost as simple as Medusa's pale white one, but she had sandals on which the Gorgon herself simply hadn't bothered with in a long while. Despite the woman's having just walked in through the door, the snakes around Medusa's head already carefully sought out the woman's eyes. Medusa could feel their disappointment at finding that the windows to this soul were staring directly at the floor and to Medusa's eye, she seemed far too focused for someone out on a casual stroll.

"May I help you, half-blood?" Medusa growled, her voice low and quaking. This woman, hell she looked to match Medusa's eternal 25 years of age, didn't deserve whatever the fates were conspiring to today; If she could, it would be worth the effort to scare her away before she slipped her gaze too high. Her strategy worked to a degree, granting the Gorgon a started yelp, though those eyes remained thankfully fixated on the floor.

"I… Didn't realize you would be right, y'know, right here." Medusa fought the automatic urge to roll her eyes, trying instead to read the woman's body language. Based on the clenching of every visible muscle, she was rightly terrified; Still, she remained in place, her hair covering her cheeks.

"I am bound by Athena to turn people to stone when they see me, where else would I be hiding?" The Gorgon muttered to herself, losing the fight against rolling her eyes. Carefully lowering her voice again, she almost snarled, "Why are you here?"

"I…" The young woman flinched at Medusa's voice, her hands clenching into even tighter fists, and Medusa wondered idly if her nails were long or sharp enough to leave marks in her palms. "I... Wanted to, uhm, talk."

Medusa felt her neck almost crack as her head whipped back in astonishment -when had the last half blood come here to doing anything but kill her?- and then her shoulders rolled forward in vicious suspicion -had she ever met a half blood who didn't want her head?- and, forcing her voice to return to a neutral, un-felt calm, murmured just loudly enough for the woman to hear, "... Talk?"

"Yes. I am not a member of any camp, I am not here seeking revenge of any kind, I am not any kind of fighter, and there is no one else here but me." The woman's voice was shaking, but the words flowed from her lips like a well studied speech.

"Do I look as stupid as you think I am?" Medusa's single chuckle was utterly devoid of humor.

"I don't know, actually." Now, the woman, the moron, sounded amused.

Even as annoyance, worry, and the earliest of guilt started to well in the pit of her stomach, Medusa almost laughed as she realized that this was the part where she was supposed to crone on and on about, 'Well, if you'd look up you could figure it out.' But she had grown tired of being an active villain. Instead, letting a hint of her amusement slip into her voice, the Gorgon cooed, "Does the floor make a suitable, visual replacement?"

"As opposed to getting turned to stone? I suppose it's not so bad." The redhead quipped, and Medusa frowned as she swore she could actually hear a vengeful goddess, somewhere nearby, yelling, 'ZING, BITCH!' Instead of wisdom incarnate appearing, however, the young half blood, continued, "But, I wouldn't really know."

"And, do tell, why's that?" Medusa droned, her frown deepening into a scowl. 'How much longer would the Gorgon pay along?' that's what the Redhead had to be thinking.

"Because… I have a theory." The redhead squared her shoulders, as though Medusa was going to listen to her theory, pick out the weakest points, and tear the whole thing to shreds as an unmerited waste of time.

Instead, Medusa fought down a groan as she realized, with almost dreadful certainty, who this woman's mother was. The last time a Daughter of Athena had died here, a small rain cloud had floated over Medusa's head for a decade; It agitated her snakes, who in turn tortured her more, it made it harder to maintain her garden, harder to read, harder to do everything that she managed to enjoy while locked in an already eternal torture.

"Well, then, are you going to ask Zeus to rain acid upon me? Do you theorize that would cure me of my stony curse?" Medusa sighed, loudly. As though she hadn't already begged for forgiveness, or a swift end, from that god before.

"You…" Was she about to tell Medusa that she deserved that curse? Daughter of Athena could be so melodramatic; Almost like they got it from somewhere. "The theory pertains to me, and my Sight."

Medusa felt her eyebrows draw together at the capital S affixed to the human word, and she slowly relaxed her shoulders as curiosity was piqued. "Your… Sight?"

Without warning, stupidly, the redhead's gaze snapped upwards, and the most interesting conversation that Medusa had had in centuries was over in a split second. Every snake on her head tried to lunge off of her head, she felt herself wince at the force the starving serpents exerted on her scalp. She marveled at how that pain barely cut a sliver of her attention away from the pool of guilt rapidly flooding her body, even as she braced for the mental white out -the usual flash- that kept Medusa from falling prey to the magic that petrified her victims.

Moments passed. Medusa felt the snakes curl slowly back around her face, not a one nipping at her own features as they usually did to, 'thank,' her for the soul they'd just shredded. As the minutes stretched out longer and longer, it occurred to the Gorgon that her eyes were still shut tight, but she really didn't want to open them before the process had occurred; Even though a human statue was horrifying, a human turning slowly into a statue as only their eyes reacted was far, far worse.

"Are you okay?" The woman's voice sounded almost as confused as Medusa felt, but her speaking finally prompted the Gorgon to slowly crack her eyes open to find… That the redhead just stood there, looking right at the Gorgon that nobody saw and lived to tell the tale, and then proceeded to just stand there some more while Medusa stared back at her.

"What the everloving Hades is wrong with you?" Medusa hissed after a few moments, although her own eyes had already answered that question for her. The dress the half-blood was wearing wasn't stone, nor was the skin that peaked out from her cleavage and upwards. Her hair remained a crimson glow of lovely locks, and then Medusa saw those eyes; A pale, almost glass like sheet covered them, but didn't disguise even a sliver of their beauty..

"I, Chaselin Annes, Daughter of Athena, am much more blind than a bat. And, I want to talk because I believe that you're lonely." The woman spoke, confidence now radiating off of her given her apparently correct theory.

On the other hand, the Gorgon's voice now trembled with uncertainty, as she cursed under her breath. "Fuck."


	2. Chasing Tales

"Weeeell?" The young woman, Chaselin, drew the word out as though that would make it more obviously a question.

"Well, what?" Medusa snapped, both with her words and out of the momentary funk that had struck her as soon as the woman before her had looked up at her. Instantly, she forced herself to pull her venom back, shaking her head through some hissed protests. "I… My apologies, I just…"

'It's been a long time since anyone has looked at you without dying?" Chaselin nodded, seemingly shrugging off the rudeness. "I get it, like, deeply - It's been a long time since anyone saw me instead of, well," the redhead paused to wave a hand in front of her face, "Y'know?"

Medusa barely paused long enough to consider how odd it was to be having a conversation that didn't take place via bad omens sent from angry goddesses before replying, "Yes, I can see how that would be difficult."

Chaselin didn't miss a beat, "I'm glad one of us can."

For a moment, Medusa merely stared at her, her brow scrunching up in confusion before her wording caught up to her and, despite herself, she let out a short laugh. She had barely lifted her hand to offer an apology when Chaselin's voice reached her ears again, "Don't. Don't apologize, please. Your laugh is lovely!"

Just as the blush started to creep into her cheeks, a snake snipped down and bit Medusa on the nose - Couldn't let her enjoy the compliment for too terribly long, now could it? Of course, it wasn't just the compliment that was getting to her, and Medusa wasn't dumb enough to deny that. The woman before her was gorgeous, eloquent, and -evidently?- kind.

Maybe too kind? Perhaps she was so kind, it'd be good of Medusa to kick her out of the shop before her mother realized where she was and swooped in to beat the Gorgon like a misbehaving dog. Or, worse yet, before the young woman -Chaselin- got caught up in her curse. Medusa had just taken the breath that was to deliver those words, when she realized her distraction had worked to Chaselin's benefit.

The young half-blood had felt her way to the counter, using half-steps and her prodding fingers, then hopped up onto it. It wasn't exactly a wide counter, more like a tall side-table than a real service space, and the newly lacking distance made it all the harder for Medusa to focus on anything but Chaselin. Never did she mind about the invasion of her privacy, or the lack of peace that now permeated her shop, or even the ramifications of the fact that her curse didn't, in fact, kill everyone who came into contact with her. No, there was really only the beautiful woman facing away from her, who'd plucked herself down on the counter and seemed to be entertaining herself by swinging her feet in front of her.

"So?" The word broke the silence that had hung over them for the last 5 minutes, since Chaselin had complimented her and then plopped herself down far to close for Medusa's concentration to survive. Of course, with that one word, it revived itself, and the Gorgon was dragged back to conscious thought after enjoying a trip to ogling village.

"So?" Medusa repeated back, more than mildly confused. She couldn't really blame herself; Chaselin had swept her hair over one shoulder, leaving her neck bare and her strong shoulder in view. Of course, Chaselin couldn't know she'd wandered into the lair of one snaky lesbian, either, and Medusa suddenly fought her own impulse to enjoy the first non-stone view she'd had in ages. Chaselin seemed comfortable here, for now, and there was no reason to ruin that just yet.

"Sooooo…" Chaselin drew the word out, turning her body slightly as though she were trying to look at the Gorgon, who soon realized that the young woman had wanted Medusa to see a slim eyebrow cocked teasingly at her. "You never answered my question, and it's been, like, 10 minutes?"

"Your… Question?" Had there been a question? Medusa certainly couldn't remember a question having been asked of her, and she'd've thought she'd remember a momentous occasion such as that! She'd not been asked a question of consequence since… Athena, really. "I apologize, Chaselin, I really didn't hear your question."

The cocked eyebrow slowly lowered, but no answer was forthcoming. Instead, Chaselin merely sat, half-turned towards her, with her mouth open in a little, 'o,' shape. Then, as though realizing she was being obvious about her emotions -though, what she was caught off-guard or embarassed about escaped Medusa entirely- she snapped those beautiful, shapely lips shut, and suddenly stiffened. For a horrifying second, Medusa thought that her magic had started to take affect anyway, thought they'd been wrong -oh, so very wrong- and she was about to add a lovely little statue to her collection.

Then, Chaselin found the grip she'd been feeling about for, and deftly swung her legs around so she was facing Medusa fully. Unaware of the panic that'd temporarily struck the Gorgon, however, her lips were curled into a big, beautiful smile, and Medusa had the insane urge to lean forward and kiss h- Holy fuck, get a grip. Yes, the space between them had shrunken immensely; Yes, the woman before her was more beautiful than perhaps even her mother had been; Yes, Medusa was still a horrifying snake lady of a monster.

So, no, there'd be no kissing at all. As if to emphasize the crushing moment of realization, one of her snakes dropped in and bit her on the cheek, as close to her lips as it could get. In turn, Medusa herself bit back a sigh - There was still a beautiful half-blood less than a foot away from her, and she really didn't feel like explaining that reaction in any way.

"I said, 'I want to talk because I believe you're lonely!'" Chaselin said, her smile growing for a moment, then faltering, if only for a moment, "Oh, Gods, that whole speech was super dramatic, wasn't it? Anyway, am I right? Are you lonely?"

"I… Uhm…" Nor did she really want to talk about this, either. However, the fates had clearly conspired against her; Medusa did want to talk to someone, and she did want to do so without them turning to stone at the exact moment of accidental eye contact. And, if this was the only reason this girl had come here, then… Well, Medusa didn't want her to leave, at least not yet.

"Heh, I didn't think a pretty lady like you, who must be used to compliments by now, could get so easily flustered." Chaselin giggled, giving Medusa just enough material to break her train of thought off of it's current loop.

"I am hardly pretty, Chaselin." Medusa tired to keep any ire out of her voice. "My skin is green, my hair is snakes, I am wearing a thousand year old toga because any time I venture out of here, several someone's die at the mere sight of me." She wasn't doing well. "I am not pretty, I am a mo-"

Medusa's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets; A pair of fingers had been pushed over her mouth, holding her lips closed, and her eyes jumped from the disrespectful gesture up to the hard stare of determination aimed right at her.

"I know what you were about to say. I know that you probably believe it. You've had 2000 years to tell yourself every lie in the book, to try and… And cope with what she did to you. You aren't stuck here, Medusa. If you were what you think you are, you would march out that door and start hunting innocent people to add to your collection. Instead, you've locked yourself in here, away from the innocent people you could hurt, and now you're trying to tell yourself that you aren't a good person, that you aren't a beautiful soul. Well… Bullshit. As first impressions go, I think you're lovely."

Medusa hadn't a clue how to respond to that. Dumbly, she stood there, a pair of soft fingers pressing -caressing?- her lips, saying nothing, staring at the small frown that now creased the lips of the daughter of Athena before her.

"And I don't think you deserve to be lonely. Oh, but here I come in here, demanding you talk to me as though you can trust any random demigod in off the streets, right? How about a kind of give and take?" Those soft fingers left her lips, and for a moment Medusa worried they'd be gone entirely - Only to have her fears dashed as that handed moved to cup her cheek. "I'll tell you a little bit about me, and if you feel like you can trust me, then you can share what you want about you? Kinda like people do on dates! Do you know what dates are?"

Medusa swallowed hard, trying not to over-focus on the idea of a date with Chaselin - Whom, she stubbornly reminded herself, she had met barely twenty minutes ago. Good Eros, what have I done to you to deserve this kind of punishment? "A, uhm… A fruit. I've got some in the gard… en." She petered off, her eyes drawn to the source of the adorable, giggling laughter that filled her ears, fighting the renewed urge to kiss those lovely lips.

"Oof, that was a good one!" Chaselin's smile hardly wavered as she caught her breath, shifting to lean back on the heels of her hands. "Since a blind woman could tell that was sarcasm," here, she paused to snicker at her own joke, "Let me just ask you, again; You tell me about your being lonely after I'll tell you about… Hmm… My relationship with my mother?"

Unable to form words given the beauty in front of her and the gentleness of the hand cupping her cheek, Medusa could only nod. Out of only necessity, she wrapped her hands around the edges of her desk, squeezing tightly to keep her balance as she leaned forward - She needed to keep herself close enough to Chaselin, so the younger woman could keep touching her face. After 2000 plus years, Medusa vaguely thought she deserved this much, at least.

"Oh, good! I… Hadn't thought you'd agree so easily, honestly?" Chaselin sighed, seemingly relieved by Medusa's better nature. Suddenly, again, she stiffened, her fingers freezing against Medusa's cheek, and panic flooded the taller woman again, worried she'd have a Chaselin statue any minute now. Instead, the fingers simply slowly withdrew, tracing the skin from Medusa's cheek, back to the corner of her lips, and then leaving entirely. "Uhm… Thank you for, uh, letting me touch your face for so long… It, ugh, helps me get a sense of, like, who I'm talking to?"

Ignoring that Chaselin seemed rattled and unsure of that explanation, Medusa easily accepted it as fact. Perhaps the young woman in front of her had her that unnerved, or perhaps… She simply wanted to believe it, whatever the consequences of doing so might end up being. "It wasn't a bother, really. I… Quite liked it. That was the first contact I've had with anyone since that bi- Er, your mother, she… I…"

"You can call her what she is, Medusa. That bitch." Chaselin paused, having apparently heard the sharp intake of severely confused air, and nodded. "Hey, it's true. Your story, the one about Poseidon and you getting together, and my mother finding out and reacting by cursing you, that's the first thing I ever heard about my mom. I didn't know she was, y'know, a freaking Goddess at the time, but even then, when I first heard that story, I thought it was cruel and unfair of her to punish you so severely for the crimes of the man she was courting. From the start, I didn't like her… Or, rather, who I thought she was.

"When I first found out I was a half-blood, I was so, so excited! I was, er, am, a bit of a nerd, a Greek mythology nerd, at that. But, I mean, I guess it's not really mythology, but that's not important. Anyway, I was super, super excited, and energized by finding out and then… I was crushed when I found out Athena was my mom. By then, I knew more stories about her, knew more about who the stories said she was, and… I didn't like what I knew and, as time went on, I liked her less and less. I could give you the long version, but allow me to cut it short by saying that I grew to resent her, and I made it my mission to make my own legacy both smart and compassionate.

"And… I may, or may not, totally up in the air, have decided… To… Uhm… Desecrate the Parthenon?" This time, Chaselin paused as all of the air escaped Medusa's lungs, and she nodded. "I was 18. I felt invincible. I was dumb and, ironically, blinder then than I am now. I was so mad at her, I… Well, I painted something on the side of one of the ruins."

Medusa couldn't stop herself from interrupting, here, leaning ever so slightly closer to ask, "And you painted…?"

Chaselin's chin dipped and, for a moment, Medusa tries to figure out how to pull the question back. Before she can figure out exactly how to do that, however, Chaselin raised her head again. Unbeknownst to her, those lovely eyes met Medusa's directly and the snakes atop her head, those that had been uncommonly docile the last fifteen minutes, recoiled from the young woman's presence. "I… I painted you. Or, rather, the Medusa I imagined you to be."

Medusa frowned. "I… I don't follow, dar- Chaselin. I don't understand."

"When I first heard the story about you, my mom, and Poseidon, I was in grade school. I was, like, 8 years old. And the book my teacher was using as a reference had some kind of awesome painting of you, with your green skin and your snakey hair, and it… May have also given you snake's eyes instead of human ones. Those books exaggerate, y'know? Anyway, I kind of recreated that, but without the green skin, or the snake hair, or the snake eyes. I painted the human you that my mother cursed for no good fucking reason, right on the side of her most sacred building. And I thought those security guards were mad, cursing at me like that. They were nothing compared to Athena."

Slowly, carefully, as though she were afraid she were going to break the young woman before her, Medusa slid her fingers along her cheek, cupping Chaselin's cheek in the same way the younger woman had her own. "She took your sight?"

It took Chaselin a moment to answer, and it almost seemed to Medusa that the woman was struggling to breath. Eventually, however, she managed to nod. "She showed up while we were sleeping, as if it wouldn't've just been creepy enough to meet my mom for the first time while I was making tea in my partner's kitchen… I feel the need to clarify that my partner left me after Athena blinded me. Something my mother put in her head about… 'The logistics of having a blind person as a spouse,' or some bullshit like that. It, well, she doesn't matter to me. That was years ago.

"Anyway! Athena showed up while I was sleeping, and I'm pretty sure she either stood there until I woke or just entered my dreams. I'm not sure which version I prefer to believe, but I know that both feel just as creepy and invasive as the other. And she told me that… If I was so sure that you deserved remorse and compassion, I should meet you myself, then decide. That was all she said, then she was gone, I woke up with no sight, no partner, no home, and no familiar way to take care of myself. I've learned to manage pretty well, but I'm still leagues behind anyone who was born blind, really. That thing were you think there's one more step but there isn't? I do that all the time. It's awful.

"And… That's it, I guess. The whole story."

"You've been waiting a long time to say all that, huh?" Medusa murmured, staring unblinkingly down at the woman in her shop, the woman with a great heart, a lot of courage, and the beauty of Aphrodite herself.

"Yeah, I have. And, like I said! So far, so good! You're everything I thought you'd b-"

"Too bad that story about me and Poseidon's all bullshit. I promise you, Chaselin, as much as I hate being here, hate Athena for what she did, I can't deny that I deserve every minute of this hell."


	3. No Epic of Gilgamesh

“An eternity locked in a shed, huh?” Chaselin’s expression barely even shifted. Her face still contained that same smile that it had when she’d declared that, yes, so far everything she’d figuratively seen about the Gorgon was actually positive. “An eternity denying yourself of human contact because of the guilt from and the fear of turning people into statues? And, naturally, an eternity surrounded by those very statues, hunted by demigods who care more about glory than compassion, and I can still hear those snakes shuffling around on your head. Naturally, this all makes perfect sense as a punishment for --”

“I have heard the story, Chaselin.” Medusa sighed, beginning to let her hand slide away from the young woman’s cheek. “But, all the same, it’s not tr-”

“Just Chase, please, Medusa.” Chase interrupted, her hand deftly finding Medusa’s wrist before it fell too far, and returning it to her cheek. “And, I heard what you said. The story isn’t true. I’m kind of hoping if I repeat it enough, you’ll correct me with the real story. Eventually, at least. You know, like that saying about finding the right answer on the internet by stating the wrong answer?”

“What is the inter-net?” Medusa frowned, her head cocking to the side, her fingers freezing against Chase’s cheek.

“Right, sorry, you haven’t really talked to anyone in a few thousand years. The internet is… Really hard to explain, but I figure you mostly won’t need to worry about it, so… Basically, it’s like if you could instantly send someone almost any image or document, no matter how far away they were? And, like --” Chase paused, realizing she’d been about to go far, far off of her chosen track, “-- For instance, you can goo- Er, look up, the story of how Poseidon being unfaithful to Athena lead to the latter transforming the poor human woman into the legendary Medusa~!”

“My name was always Medusa.” Medusa rolled her eyes, unable to fight the small, flattered smile that crept onto her lips. That same upturn of her lips meant an upturn in her mood, too, and she with a soft sigh, she started caressing the beautiful young woman’s cheek. “You really do want to hear my tragic little tale of wrongdoing, don’t you, darling?”

“More than an-... Well, just about anything, yeah.” Chase nodded, and cast a self-assured grin upwards. “And don’t do that thing were you drag out asking me how sure I am, because I can tell you now that I’m not gonna regret asking and I’m godsdamned sure --” A loud crackle of thunder interrupted her, and even as Medusa rolled her eyes and cast her free hand skywards in a silent salute telling Zues to fuck off, she heard Chase murmuring and apology towards the sky. “Anyway,” she said a moment later, “I’m certain.”

“I would never draw out your suspense like that.” Medusa chuckled, ignoring that she had been about to do just that. “Before I begin, you should know that it’s something of a long tale, and --”

“Nope.”

“Excuse me?”

“No long tales. No Epic of Gilgamesh answer explaining your motives and detailing how exactly you’ve answered for your crimes. I want, like, a two sentence answer about what you think you did to deserve this punishment. Drawing it out is only gonna make it more likely that I don’t think you should be locked away like this, and if you really think you deserve this punishment, then you’ll give it to me fast and dirty, then let me decide for myself whether what you did constitutes what Athena did.”

Medusa blinked, and all around her she felt dozens of snakes freeze in place. They all stared down at the young Daughter of Athena, doubtlessly making their first try and intimidating a human since they learned they could just turn them to stone. After a long, slow breath, the Gorgon sighed, and decided that Chase was right. “Well… Alright, then. I was dating and in love with Athena, but because I was human we couldn’t be wed. So, in an attempt to gain godhood, I made an pact with Poseidon that involved me becoming a Goddess for my having slept with him.”

Medusa hadn’t really expected any sound to permeate the air for a few seconds, hadn’t expected Chaselin to do anything but contemplate the person who now stood before her. Instead, the instant she finished speaking, Chaselin started laughing.

“I…” Chaselin’s laugh was gorgeous, and Medusa quickly realized that forming any thoughts was going to be hard for a few moments. Eventually, though it took more than a few moments, Chase managed to get her laughter under control, and it was while she was taking a few long, deep breaths, that Medusa grumbled, though her fingers continued their caressing, “What is so funny about my life’s story?”

“Soooo. Many. Things.” Chase huffed between inhales, a smile still firmly in control of her lips. “First, my mother having been gay all along! See, she gave me as a gift to my mom --Whose name is Karen--, but my mom always told me that Athena had seen her as an intellectual equal, and nothing more. Second of all, if Athena really did see my mom as an intellectual equal, then she was dead wrong! That’s the dumbest reason for a curse that I’ve ever heard! You wanted to marry her but you weren’t a God, so you went to a God with the power to make you into a God and he gave you a shitty deal, and when you told her, she just went --” Medusa’s fingers froze, “-- What is it?”

“Oh. Oh, Chaselin. Your mother didn’t find out from me, not in so many --or any-- words. I was young, dumb, and self-assured. I thought I could give Poseidon what he wanted quickly enough that it wouldn’t matter, and by the time I was explaining my trials to your mother, I’d already be a God. Perhaps I wouldn’t’ve been worthy of marrying her then, but I would have made the effort and done the work, then brought her the results for her judgement. Really, I was thinking very logically of the whole ordeal.”

Medusa’s free hand slipped up and rubbed at the lower-half of her face, and just as she went to continue, Chaselin’s voice, now quiet and clearly seeded with doubt, asked, “She caught you with him, then? Just like in the story?” 

“Well… No. The story Poseidon told included us having clothes on, and us sitting near a bathhouse or some such. Protecting his dignity or some such, I’m sure, but the truth of it was far more… Ehm… Risque, let’s say.”

“Let’s not say anything except the truth, Medusa.” Chase’s voice stiffened, as though it had now come to see Medusa for the monster that she was. Appropriately, really. “Nice and flat, if you’d please.” Her hand, Medusa noticed suddenly, had slipped from her wrist. She took that as a cue, and slipped her own had away from the younger woman’s cheek. 

“Very well. Poseidon has… Or maybe simply had? Either way, Poseidon was into some very interesting things, all of which were thought to be well known among the Greek World at the time. Evidently, one thing had slipped by the gossiping doves, however; He rather liked the thought of being with a woman and man at the same time. As the same person. He’d never found anyone who would agree to letting him permanently change such a major facet of their being, until little ol’ me fell in love with the Goddess of Wisdom.”

“I don’t understand what that means, at all.” Chase stated, her eyebrows drawn and her frown evident.

“Poseidon…” Medusa swallowed hard, wondering if making this revelation would be more or less frightening than telling a date she was basically a 2000 year old snake woman, “Gave me male genitalia, with which I agreed to utilize in a bed with him. In exchange, he would turn me into a God once the deed was done.”

“So… My mom… Your girlfriend, at the time… Caught you… A fully-human… Er, person who was born a woman… With your di-… In his ass?”

“That’s… A decent summary.” Medusa sighed, adding a step of distance between her and Chaselin. Undoubtedly, the young woman would soon enough come to her senses and launch herself off the counter, and go racing for the door. And who was Medusa to blame her for that, really? After everything she’d just heard? “If you’d like some space, I can go tend to the garden for a while. If… If you’d like some help leaving, then I… I can help you to the door, at least?”

“Can I ask you a really inappropriate question?” Chaselin suddenly pipped up, the steady tone of her voice evaporating into one of embarrassed excitement.

“I, uhm… What?” Medusa asked, almost able to feel the whiplash the snakes on her head were feeling from the sudden jump in Chaselin’s mood. “I… I guess so?”

“Okay, well, it’s rhetorical, but… How many people do you think my mother has sent to their deaths because Poseidon wanted to experience a woman pegging him?” Chaselin giggled, leaning back on her hands on the top of the table/counter. Outside, despite the fact that the shoreline was hundreds of miles away, the sound of an angry ocean quickly and clearly snapped into focus. All Chaselin had to say was, “If you’re angry, then it’s true?” and the sound disappeared instantly. “I know it’s not funny, all those lost people, but… He couldn’t have just asked someone to wear a strap-on?”

After a moment of struggling to hold it in, a smooth burst of laughter rolled from Medusa, and she doubled over trying to hold herself up as she basically lost her mind. Chaselin must have sensed how much she needed the moment, because she didn’t do anything until Medusa stood back up, her snakes hissing at her in annoyance, and sighed. “Gods, I needed a good laugh about that… Hey, you, uhm… You’re not gonna insult Hades now, too, are you? I don’t really wanna risk those three agreeing on hating me, by any means.”

Now, it was Chaselin’s turn to giggle. “No, no. I don’t have any… What’s the word… Quarrel with the God of the Underworld. I mean, he’s a little mean to his w- You know what? Nevermind! Anyway, uhm… You _did_ say permanently, right? Sorry if this is too much, but, uhm… Do you still have it, then? The, ugh…” Chaselin turned her head side to side, as though listening for someone who might overhear her saying it, then whispered, “Y’know? The penis?”

Medusa felt her entire face heat up, and she had to wonder how much of her face had changed color -- And, for that matter, what color? She’d never seen herself blush before, but it seemed to be a very common occurrence for the day. “I… Uhm…” She had to fight to swallow down her the nerves that were shooting off in her head, but finally she managed to get out a small, awkward, “Yep.”

Chase either didn’t notice her discomfort, which was highly likely, or didn’t care, which didn’t seem like her, at all. While Medusa turned whatever color, Chase straightened up and almost started bouncing in place. “That is so fucking cool! I mean, there are so many questions that so many people would wanna ask you! How did he give you one? How does it work? Did it replace your original parts, or is it kind of on top of them?” She seemed to hesitate for a second, her head tilting side to side repeatedly before she evidently made the decision to jump for it, “I… Wouldn’t mind seeing for myself, y’know?”

Every answer that had been in Medusa’s head suddenly evaporated. Has Chaselin just…?

“Oh, for Zues’s sake! I know you’re charming, Medusa, but this is fucking ridiculous!”

Medusa watched as Chaselin’s face turned a bright red, and morph into the same expression that Medusa surely wore on her own face; Equal parts dread and shock.

“And you, Chaselin! I would have sworn that your mom brought you up better than this! Offering to, ‘examine,’ her like no one knows what that means! Why not just drop to your knees now and fish out her big green --”

“Mother!” Chaselin yelled, the dread having morphed to horror on her face. “Why are you even here?!”

“I thought by now you’d’ve come to my conclusion! That the woman I once loved was a great illusion, and this… This beast is always who she really was! But, no! I guess I have to bless her curse away before you sleep with her monsterous form. My own daughter! Eros, have mercy…”

Medusa’s eyes went wide. She felt her own heart stop. The snakes on her head all hissed in unison. With one look from the Goddess who slumped indignantly against the wall, the snakes all went silent.

“Did you say-” Chaslin started, her jaw just as slacked as Medusa’s, but Athena herself cut her daughter off.

“Look, I haven’t all day, okay? I am assuming that you think Medusa here doesn’t deserve her little curse, and as such you’ll want me to bless her out of it. I really do have better places to be, Chaselin, sweetheart, so, if you’d please confirm my assumption, so I can be on my way?”

“I, uhm, I… I think her curse has gone on for far too long, but…”

“But?” Athena perked up, practically purring.

“CAN EVERYONE PLEASE STOP TAAAALKING!” Medusa’s stupor finally broke, and with it gone, her voice filled the garden. “Gods above, I am trying to think here.”

Besides her, Athena rolled her eyes skyward. “I’m not above you, Medusa, I’m right here. And you say I’m the dramatic one?”

For just a moment, Medusa debated whether punching the Goddess in the face would be worth the undoubtable hell she’d suffer for it.


	4. A Melody by Any Other Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... Would sound just as sweet! Please enjoy!

“That’s her, ‘I want to punch Athena in the face,’ face.” Athena smirked, her hand half raised so she could pretend like she was trying to whisper to her daughter instead of openly insulting Medusa. “I haven’t seen it very often lately, except for the times when I peak in on her to make sure she’s miserable!” Her grey eyes almost seem a shiny silver now, her lips curled into a mean smile. Suddenly, her smirk teetered and feel from her lips, “Well, I suppose that might be coming to an end here soon. Though, I do recall having heard a… ‘But,’ recently! So maybe it won’t! Ooooh, I hope not, I’ve got so many more things I can do to y-”

“Mom!” Chaselin half-shouted, drawing Athena up short. “For Zues’s sake, stop talking.”

Athena lifted a hand, an obvious retort on her lips, before her movement froze. Her eyes darted back and forth, before she tilted her head and appeared to try to listen for something from the sky. “Nothing?” Medusa heard her grumble, “Can’t even get a rumble for my pride...” Then, the Goddess seemed to remember that she wasn’t alone in the room, and --although she lets out a quiet huff-- her eyes soon snapped back to her daughter. “Chaselin Athena Annes, you will not-”

Medusa couldn’t hold back the bark of laughter that spilled from her, but just as she went to explain why, Athena basically snarled at her.

“That was not my idea!” The Goddess growled, “I told Karen not to do it, too, but I couldn’t be involved in the legal process so my vote was… Ignored, to say the least. Something about honoring me! As if she couldn’t have honored me by simply making sure you got a good education --”

“She did.” Chaselin murmured.

“--Stayed safe from danger--”

“I’m alive, clearly.” Chase huffed.

“-- And learned the difference between what you should date and what you should kill!” Athena finished grandly, before leveling an intense scowl at Medusa. “The nerve of you, making eyes at my daughter like that!”

“Making eyes?” Both Medusa, who scowled back at the Goddess, and Chase, who perked up, chimed at the same time for entirely different reasons.

“Oh, for Sappho’s…” Athena took a deep, fortifying breath, and Medusa took a moment to take stock of the woman she’d once loved so fiercely. Being a Goddess, Athena didn’t appear to have visually aged, but as the memory of her lover was so deeply ingrained in her mind, Medusa spotted a handful of differences from the woman she had known millennia prior. This Athena slumped against a wall in a plain blue dress was a far, far cry from the woman Medusa had known not to take off her battle armor, the Athena who commanded respect just by the way she entered a room, the one who had stood over her city at the height of it’s power and smiled for her citizens. 

This Athena reminded Medusa far more of the woman who had walked in on her with Poseidon; Angry, withdrawn, sullen. She had every right to be, of course, up to and including turning Medusa into a monster. However, this Athena was also holding back all of that rage that being the Goddess of War instilled inside of her, the fury that was only ever tempered by her own intelligence. Her intelligence and, once upon a time, Medusa herself.

“Look,” Athena said on a sigh. “I’ll be frank. I came here to gloat, help my daughter cut off a monster’s head--” Medusa watched as sparkling grey eyes flashed her way, noticed her discomfort at the thought of yet another decapitation, and dismissed her, “-- and get back on my schedule for the day before anyone could notice I was gone. Seeing as how I’m evidently not going to get what I want based on simple logic, I am going to throw another little twist into this… Whatever the hell you two are doing.”

Medusa’s eyes sneak a peak at Chaselin’s face, noting that she had hopped off of the table and now seemed to stand with her shoulders squared and her chest puffed out -- Like she was about to defend Medusa’s honor or some such. “Mother.” She started, “Whatever you’re thinking of do-”

“I will either return your eyesight to you, Chase, or I will return Medusa’s soul to her. Not both.” Athena stated, utilizing the same cadence as Medusa would have expected to hear her say, ‘I told you so!’ in, and Medusa’s stomach turned in on herself as she realized that Athena had, effectively, told her so. “Of course, lest that monster get you, I will grant you your sight only once you’ve beheaded her, but--”

“What are the terms?” Chase asked, her expression unwavering, and forcing Medusa to recall the words she’d used to describe Chaselin not quite half an hour prior; Goodhearted, courageous, and gorgeous. Out of the corner of her eye, Medusa saw rather than heard the confusion on the Goddess’s face and in her voice, though Athena didn’t get to open her mouth very wide before Chaselin went on, her voice hard and almost tired. “I don’t want to agree to have her soul returned only for her to, like, turn to dust in front of me. You stole the rest of her life, mother, a life she was trying to willingly give to you, and used it to torture her. She may have deserved some punishment, but this was just… Cruel.”

Athena’s eyes flashed from their cooler grey to a furious silver, as anger clearly welled inside of her. Then, as Gods are want to do, her mood flipped on a dime as her other domain, wisdom, kicked in. “Yes, I suppose you’re right, Chaselin… Hmm… Your eyesight will remain mine in exchange for returning Medusa’s soul to her and ensuring her body will be the same ages it was before I took her soul in the first place. Are those terms acceptable?”

Chaselin turned her head towards Medusa, as though she was waiting for confirmation from the Gorgon that this was, indeed, acceptable, but Medusa could hardly wrap her brain around what was happening in the small space around her. Apparently, given Medusa’s silence, Chaselin figured Medusa agreed with the terms, too. The redhead nodded, and scant moments later, Athena raised her hand and snapped the color out of the room.

For an instant, the room existed in pure white with black outlines, still and unchanging, from the statues around her to the Goddess herself and Chaselin. Then, ever so slowly, color began to seep back into the room, from the cool steel of Athena’s eyes and dull creams of her statues, to the striking reds of Chase’s hair and the light olive of her own skin tone…

Her own skin tone! 

As soon as she was able, Medusa snapped her eyes downwards, and took what she could see of herself in. Her body hadn’t changed much in the millennia since she’d been cursed in the first place, but seeing it with her actual skin tone again took her attention for a good 5 seconds. Her dress, which had gotten so filthy over the centuries, was the same gorgeous white one she’d been wearing that night. Then, she remembered the rest of the change, and her hands shot upwards, half-expecting to find the snakes that had sat on her head for so many lifetimes still waiting for a good time to fuck her over.

Instead, her fingers dug into the soft, blond tresses of the rare hair color she’d been born with so, so long ago. Halfway stumbling towards the only mirror she kept in the garden, Medusa softly cursed under her breath, amazed to hear the voice she thought she’d lost forever. As she swung in front of the mirror, she dug her hands once more through her hair, more stunned to see it that just about any other part of her face. It hung down near her shoulders, almost tickling the skin that her dress didn’t cover.

Her eyes were her own once more, as well! The irises had shifted back from a bright, cursed green to her natural light brown, and --for the first time in two thousand plus years-- they brought the whole package together, helping Medusa to feel truly… Human. Even the slight weight she felt hanging from her crotch couldn’t detract from her overwhelming excitement. “Oh… My… Gods!” She shouted, unable to restrain the giddy laughter born of the overwhelming joy, and as quickly as she was able, Chase joined her.

The blind woman’s fingers danced over Medusa’s skin, feeling the evident differences between the dry, almost stony skin she’d originally felt and the soft, almost doughy texture it possessed now. “She actually did it!” Chaselin giggled, her hands quickly tracing upwards towards Medusa’s slim shoulders and then further upwards to her neck and face. “I wasn’t sure she’d follow through.”

“I don’t lie.” Athena huffed, casting her eyes downward as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be going.” And, just like that, Athena practically evaporated, the only note of her having been there was the faint smell of olives burning alongside the ozone.

“Mo- Ah, shit.” Chase huffed, “I had more questions for her.” The young woman got over it quickly, and returned her attention to the woman in front of her. “I can’t tell how tall you are! You seemed like you were super tall before, when you were cursed, but I can’t get a read on --”

“I’ve always been pretty tall,” Medusa giggled, reaching her now-soft fingers out and caressing Chase’s bare biceps. “Your mother made me a little taller when she cursed me, I guess that was more intimidating or something, but I don’t think she took all of that height back when she un-cursed me. I feel like I’m about… 1.8 meters tall?”

“That sounds pretty tall, Medusa, but… I’m an American, I need a better reference than that.” Chase grumbled, but there was a smile, soft and sweet, gracing her lips.

_Oh, Gods above._ Medusa thought, _Her lips._

“Oh, uhm… About… 5 feet, 11 inches tall? Basically just a smidgen under 6 feet.” Medusa hummed quietly, slightly grateful that the beauty in front of her couldn’t see the blush spreading across her cheeks.

“Mmmmm… I think someone is blushing.” Chase ventured, breaking out into a giggle when Medusa started to sputter. “Heh, knew it. You know, I wouldn’t’ve minded if you’d been stuck with the snakes, I think snakes are pretty cool, but I think maybe you’re super cute whether you’re cursed or not.” Chase paused for barely a second before adding, “I love that I know when you’re blushing!”

“Oh, hush you.” The taller woman grumbled, her lips turned upward all the same.

“Nah. Now, lemme think…” Chase murmured, sliding her hands down to Medusa’s shoulders and leaning back more than a little. Almost too herself, certainly under her breath, she added, “If you’re 5’11”, then you’re about… 6 inches taller than me...”

“Uhm… Chase? What are you doing?”

“Trying to estimate where your lips are so I can kiss you properly, obviously.” Chase groused, only able to keep the charade going for a second before an embarrassed smile took her lips. “I, uhm… That is, of course, if you _want_ me to kiss you? I mean, I know we just met an hour ago, but… Look, I’m a dork, I romanticized your story and you, and I totally shouldn’t have, but --”

“Chase?”

“-- really, everything I’ve learned about you since I came in here has only really--”

“Ugh, Chase?”

“--made me more sure that you’re actually just a great, misunderstood person--”

“Chase, are you okay?”

“-- and I just really wanna... “ The woman finally inhaled, then let out a soft, humbled sigh. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just an idealistic dreamer --my mom’s words, not mine-- who pictured you almost perfectly and, like… I just, I really like you, okay? I don’t wanna say that I feel some kind of a, a pull towards you, but… I do, kind of? And, like, I just really wanna kiss the shit out of you, I have since I got here.”

“So…” Medusa grinned, wildly, “Do it?”

“I know it’s probably not what you -- Wait, seriously, Medusa?” 

“I mean… Only if you don’t call me Medusa ever again?” She replied, not having really planned to, but realizing how right the words would feel until they’d left her lips.

“I… Am a broken record right now, but… Seriously? You said you’d always been called Medusa, right?”

The taller woman was already nodding, “Well, yeah, but it’s kind of a… Legendary name, I think someone beautiful called me? There’s not really anything wrong with it, but I would personally rather not ever be associated with it ever again.”

Chaselin was nodding along already, though her lips formed a small frown. “What should I call you then, darling?”

After a short laugh, she answered, “Well, darling is a great start! But, since I don’t really want anyone else calling me darling… How about Melody?”

“Melody…” Chaselin murmured. “Melody, Mel, Melody, Melody…” After a few moments, during which Melody herself entertained herself by watching as Chase’s bottom lip slipped between her teeth. “Yeah.” Chase’s lips burst into a smile, breaking Melody’s concentration, “I love it!” 

“I’m glad~” Mel smiled, squeezing Chase’s biceps lightly to let her know she meant it.

“Now, then… Melody… Can I please, please kiss you?”

“If you don’t kiss me soon,” Melody cooed, leaning down slightly as she spoke both to make it easier for Chase to reach her and so Chase could still find her, “I might just scream.”

“Well,” Chase shifted her hands up, cupping the taller woman’s cheeks, “At least I’d be able to find you easily enough~”

Melody’s next laugh escaped into Chase’s lips.


End file.
